CD-ROM Access
The Cruncher Access Summary
Table of Contents
Product description
Screen magnification
Screen reader access
Recommendations for improvement
Details by assistive technology
Product description
The Cruncher is a spreadsheet based program. The tutorials are designed to teach students how to collect data and make calculations. The product's blank spreadsheets can be used by teachers as a tool to teach students how to collect and manipulate specific types of data.
Publisher: Davidson and Associates
Platform (Windows, Macintosh, Multi): Multi
Copyright: 1994
Grade level: Elementary
Subject: Math
Intended use (reference, interaction, tool): Tool
Screen magnification
The Cruncher works reasonably well under magnification. It has some problems which are common in spreadsheets, including difficulty tracking the highlighted cell and the data entry cursor. The technique of entering data in a status line edit box and then having it appear in the spreadsheet cell after entry is also confusing for users who see only a portion of the screen at a time. However, this is an accepted feature of adult spreadsheets and may be unavoidable.
The interactive tutorials provided are partially useful. The beginning ones using drag and drop could not be completed in Windows because the drag feature conflicted with use of the magnifier. Others worked more smoothly.
Screen reader access
The Cruncher is difficult to use with a screen reader, though some advanced customization might improve its usability. For example, there is no simple way to know which cell the cursor is in, but a script or other screen reader feature might allow a user to create a command to review the status line. Also, the active cell cannot be tracked though Screen Power might be able to adjust to it. A blind student with strong keyboard and screen reader skills could probably learn to use this product for simple spreadsheets, but it would require some customization and quite a bit of support in learning the application.
As with all current spreadsheets, it is difficult to determine the row and column header information for the cell you are currently reading. Solutions to this problem may come from the use of more detailed table markup, such as that described in HTML 4.0. The information available about each cell would then need to be communicated to the user, either by placing a status line on screen which assistive technologies could be trained to read or by invisibly passing the information through MSAA or similar techniques.
The tutorials provided in The Cruncher cannot be used at all with a screen reader. The method used to scroll text and update the screen interferes with some screen readers, and the graphical buttons needed to interact with the tutorials are not accessible. This is unfortunate since visually impaired students would benefit from a step by step introduction to the use of the program.
Recommendations for improvement
Improved focus tracking: This task can be accomplished by using a standard system cursor or by moving the system cursor to the location of focus, even if it is invisible.
Provide a "go to" command for moving directly to a specific cell: This feature would significantly speed up and improve the data entry process.
Implement markup to provide information about row and column headers while reading a cell: The ability to identify row and column headers would help the blind person to more quickly put various types of data into proper context.
Offer tutorials in an accessible form: Options could include step by step instructions without the automatic interaction of the current tutorials, or a revision of the techniques used to create the interaction that does not conflict with assistive technologies.
Details by assistive technology
Click the links below for details on how a specific piece of access technology performed with The Cruncher.
LPWindows version 6.1
inLARGE version 2.1
JAWS for Windows95 version 2.0
ScreenPower for Windows version 3.0 revision C
outSPOKEN for Macintosh version 1.7.5
LPWindows version 6.1
Worked reasonably well under magnification with LP Windows. As with some other spreadsheet programs the data is not directly entered into a cell but rather appears in a data entry point and is moved to the cell when Tab or Enter is pushed. This adds to navigational confusion. LP Windows would not track the active cell identifier, further adding to the problem of keeping straight one's location. The Tutorials were interesting but it took some time to understand what was happening. LPWindows did not track the changes brought about by the program. In addition one could not use the drag and drop feature under magnification. This made it virtually impossible to complete some of the first tutorials. Though an animated character spoke briefly, the content of speech did not really tell what to look for or what had happened. Text quality was very good and font size could be adjusted as needed. Menus could be operated by keystrokes but there were no key equivalents for movement within the spreadsheet itself.
inLARGE version 2.1
The Cruncher worked reasonably well under magnification with inLARGE. As with some other spreadsheet programs the data is not directly entered into a cell but rather appears in a data entry point and is moved to the cell when Tab or Enter is pressed. This creates navigational confusion. inLARGE does not track the active cell identifier further adding to the problem of keeping straight one's location. The Tutorials are interesting but it takes some time to understand what is happening. inLARGE does not track the changes that occur automatically during the tutorial. Though an animated character speaks briefly, the speech does not really tell what to look for or what has happened.
JAWS for Windows95 version 2.0
For the target age group of this product, the screen reader skills needed to use it are too complex. The product can be used with some success by an adult with good screen reader skills, but might be too difficult for students. Exposure of the keyboard focus would make navigation easier. It would also be helpful to have a quick way to read the status bar. Spreadsheet text can be read, as can most of the text in the notebook. Some tutorials and projects included unreadable graphical text and buttons, which made these automated teaching spreadsheets difficult to use. Help was available and easy to use in a standard Windows Help interface.
ScreenPower for Windows version 3.0 revision C
Although most of the information presented by this application can be read by ScreenPower, a few serious problems make it unusable. A script could be written to allow cell tracking and announcement of cell content in the spreadsheets. However, the programmers used graphic images for screen tools which cannot be located or labeled in several application areas. The tutorial section of the application also incorporates a text highlighting technique and a type of screen motion which interferes with speech output.
outSPOKEN for Macintosh version 1.7.5
Independent use of this product requires good screen reader navigation skills. The text in the spreadsheet and the notebook can be read and edited. Navigating around the spreadsheet and awareness of column and row orientation is difficult and time consuming. Also, there is no easy way to recall the column and row headings for a piece of data as you read the number, though freezing the headers may make this easier. Blind students should find this product usable for simple spreadsheet tasks.
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